Matters of Trust
by al-ROCKET
Summary: An in-depth retelling (and critique) with new perspectives. Follow the Thundercats and learn about them in a detail that may confirm your suspicions or surprise you. May deviate from the televised cartoon but with a comprehensive reason. Further chapters may be rated M, please be advised there will be adult themes that enter and if you wish to invest in the story be prepared.
1. Matters of Trust

All characters within are (c) WB.

Matters of Trust.

It did not seem right. Lion-o demanded obedience but the last Panthro remembered, the king was a boy. And Panthro did not give respect without proof first that they were worth it.

Panthro had kept it to himself back then. After all, it was not his role to question Claudus. But he always thought granting rulership based on blood was foolish. Dangerous even. But he did not believe it as Grune had, who said a king should achieved his position through ambition. It was the only other method Panthro thought that was more dangerous than the former.

Just the same, granting a child respect without earning it was not Panthro's style. Accused as he might that his loyalty was overrated. Words did not hurt like they used to.

"I'm the king," Lion-o said.

"Last I saw you, you were nine years old. And trust me, there's no nostalgia in that remark."

Panthro glanced the group of refugees before lowering himself from the Thunder Tank. They were all kids. Maybe by some grace of the divines, the ancestors lead him to Lion-o but Panthro was sure it was just luck. Dumb luck.

"I don't follow orders of children," Panthro said at last. Lion-o's hair rose and his fists balled. Tygra shifted his weight and smirked at his brother. It did not matter to him that he was included in the insult and Panthro had been startled to see such a look.  
Cheetara shifted too though it was to stifle a comment. What she wanted to say was not that of which Jaga may have and so she kept it to herself. At least, that's what Panthro imagined. When her lips parted again and her eyes set upon him, she realized she should have said it but found the moment gone.

"Definitely kids," Panthro nodded. Maybe it would invite them to study their own behavior and see themselves as he had but moments seemed to speed away before they could be comprehend. Time to change the subject.

"Thunder Tank is out of fuel. Going to risk my hide at the Cloud Peak Mine. I'm telling you this so you know where I went." He could hardly contain his mockery.  
"If you're going after Thundrillium, we're coming with you," Lion-o asserted.  
Panthro ran his hand over the top of his head.

"Yeah? Sure you shouldn't stay here with those two and keep them from trouble?" And he gestured at the twins who gaped up at him with unblinking eyes. Lion-o pondered them.

"They'll stay with the tank. The rest of us will go."

"I'm going to say this as respectfully as I can: no."

"We're going with you. There is nothing more to dispute," Lion-o said.

"Then you listen to what I say, got it?"

"Loyalty is a hard commodity to come by," Cheetara said. "More so than Thundrillium."  
He did not endure ten years in the wild to miss a glint in the eye or rigidness of the body which spoke louder than words. Cheetara had asserted her position as body guard through an exchanged gaze. A glint of violence had been evident there and promised Panthro trouble if he thought to muscle too much power from Lion-o. Panthro could have laughed if she did not contain an honest threat. She was Jaga's protégé. Pantho could see that.

In the end, Panthro relented. He took them into to the jungle valley and headed straight to Cloud Peak. He tried to keep his doubts to himself, his eyes locked on the mountain when he saw it and straight when he did not. There were important grown up things to do and he did not have time to humor royal brats with extremely low or excessively high self-esteem. Not even if their personal assassin demanded it.

"Surprised you guys made it this far," Panthro admitted. "You have never even been outside the walls let alone beyond where the eye could reach."

"We've made it just fine on our own," Lion-o said.

"Guess you guys didn't need my help back in the briars."

A pause followed and it was swollen with looks that shot arrows at the back of his head. He shrugged. Lasers would have been more effective.

He could almost hear Cheetara's fragile wisdom pondering his intentions. She surveyed him constantly as she measured his words and their meanings. The thought of it exhausted him but he also respected how difficult it could be. Panthro supposed if it were left to the both of them, they could cut out the drama and get the job done twice as fast.

If she was not calculating Panthro, he knew she certainly was willing Lion-o to say the right thing. But they were likely messages Lion-o would never know how to receive. And if Cheetara had been sending telepathic messages to urge Lion-o on, Tygra had certainly done the opposite. Without doubt, he waited to see if power could be wrenched from his brother's hands. And if it could, try it himself.

For someone whose fate had been blessed with as much luck as Tygra's, Panthro would have supposed Tygra less arrogant. If a rare wind did not blow in his favor, Tygra would be less than a Prince of Thundera. If anything at all. The wind hardly ever blew from the north and it landed a lone tiger cub in a den of lions. To be adopted no less. He could have been killed easier by those same lions had Queen Leona not been so eager for a baby. If that was not luck, Panthro did not know what was.

Further conversation was sparse until the sky turned red and the entrance to Cloud Peak was in view. Lizard sentinels paced the entrance in a lazy saunter. If they waited until after dark, they would certainly be asleep.

"We wait for night fall," Panthro said. There was no need to elaborate. Lion-o grumbled as Panthro retreated into the tall grasses but Panthro was sure there was little to debate. Even a child-king like Lion-o could see how cats had the edge in darkness.  
With the lizard's sun-stricken saunter in mind, Panthro folded his hands under his head and supposed for a nap but lingered over sleep. He was sure someone would do something stupid the moment he drifted.

Despite himself he began to dream. He saw Grune pacing in his palace suite. Upon inquiry, Grune raged about something Tygra had said to him in secret during his coming of age ceremony. Disappointment had been apparent by the crease in his brow and the spit that flung from his lips as he articulated what had upset him.  
"He's gotten soft, Panthro," Grune said. "Tygra thinks he can navigate Lion-o from beside the throne. He said that Lion-o would be king in name alone. The cub doesn't know being king is the title!"

"Would you stop encouraging him," Panthro said as he seized Grune's shoulders. "These words are upsetting because Prince Tygra is plotting against his brother not because he doesn't understand your perceptions of kingship. You must talk to him before he is discovered and punished as an adult!"

"Should have never trusted him to go do that," Panthro mumbled in his sleep.  
Grune's suite vanished when he heard Lion-o. Shouting a plea no less. He threw himself to his feet, a movement that startled Cheetara and Tygra who were steps ahead to assist their king. They hurried but Panthro knew someone had to be there that could handle real danger. He jumped down from their hiding place on the hill and landed in a fray of lizard guards.

The lizards shouted and cried but not once in victory. Wild fear filled their throats until all lay at his feet. Only after that did Cheetara and Tygra find themselves at the bottom of the hill.

"What is wrong with you," Panthro cried. He meant it for all of them but only Lion-o responded with equal heat.

"Me? I gave an order!"

"He is the king now, Panthro," Cheetara said.

"So that means I have to listen to any order he gives me? Dumb as hell or otherwise? This is not what I signed up for."

"Considering your position as general, I'm surprised you have to ask," Cheetara returned.

"Guess the stories of your loyalty were exaggerated," Lion-o said.

"At least have the sense to stay behind me," he sighed but without resignation. His eye lingered on Lion-o as he suspected he might go wildly shouting into the entrance.  
They followed Panthro quietly, to his surprise. Yet, each turning stone under their feet annoyed him and wondered if it alerted the lizard workers within. Considering how things had been going, he wondered if Grune would be within the mines. He then imagined Lion-o shaming Grune back into fealty.

Panthro almost laughed at himself and rolled his eyes. Even he thought he was being a little too harsh. Lion-o and Tygra could not be entirely to blame for the way they turned out. Grune engineered them to be precisely as they were. If they were to run into him, it meant that Grune would know right where to pull their strings. Panthro had watched him do it but hand not pieced it all together until after Grune betrayed him to the pits of Mumm-Ra's pyramid. Oh how Grune had labored to be king. His whole career was spent at the chance.

He might have worked almost as hard as the lizards had at Thundrillium deposits below them. Almost. As they spied on the workers from above in a dark patch in the wall, he recalled an additional danger that children may have not thought to avoid.  
"Ever hear of ThunDRAINium," he whispered.

Lion-o screwed his face while a knowing light cast upon Cheetara's.

"Develops in the same ore chambers are Thundrillium. Don't touch it though. It's very toxic."

"What a painfully clever name," Tygra mused.

Panthro curled his lip before ending their lesson on the matter.  
"Its poison to us. Get it on your hands, step in it or even breath it and you're on your back."

Cheetara's eyes lingered on Panthro but he looked upon the working lizards who had swept away scrap Thundranium deposits with a broom.

"What are you doing," a familiar voice barked, "get this shit out of here! Quickly!"  
Panthro froze while fire brimmed in his eyes. He found Grune in golden armor tempered with a metal Mumm-Ra had shaped from star rock. He could have fallen onto Grune, drawn in by the sucking vortex of bitter resentment but Cheetara's gaze kept him tethered to his feet.

His thoughts crumbled. His objective lost in a wave of nostalgia as he gazed upon an old friend. One of which he had to remind himself had betrayed him for the sake of selfish ambition. Had their comradery ever meant anything? Had any of those days between meeting Grune and Mumm-Ra been valued above ambition? Panthro could hope but he punished himself for being as gullible. Not one day mattered. Not one day had Grune been a real friend. Not one day. Had he?

Panthro lead them down a dark passage that had deep grooves imbedded in the dirt from the constant rolling carts. The lizards who entered into the dark, eagerly lit their way with tiny lights upon their heads but little good it did. It cast phantom shadows and haunting pale light on the wall and did little else but put them on edge. The cats watched them with ease as they passed, their carts full of gleaming Thundrillium.  
Tygra pointed at the cart as it disappeared at the other end of the tunnel and looked at Panthro.

"Now's our chance," he said with hardly a whisper. Panthro had almost missed it altogether as he glowered at the light of the main chamber. Grune's scent mocked him as it occasionally wafted down their dark tunnel.

It was a mistake. He knew it then. But he discarded Tygra's suggestion as a childish one and continued to creep for the light. Grune was at the end of the tunnel and Panthro had something to say to him. After a moment's hesitation, the footfalls of his company began again.

"There are a couple dozen lizards in there right now," Panthro whispered. "We can take them out easily and without Grune noticing if we get them as their coming in."  
Tygra shrugged and Lion-o watched his brother.

"Your Thundrillium is in these tunnels. Sounds to me you just want to see your friend."  
"No choice," Panthro said. "Stay back here. Get as much as you can. But first, we take out the lizards."

He thought he saw Tygra narrow his eyes but without two eyes to serve him, Panthro could not be sure.

Lizards came on their own as they filled their cart from a large deposit and carted them away into the tunnel. It was easy to pick them off but with their imaginations already haunting the black pathway, they screamed easily.

Panthro was surprised with the royals. Something about the lizard's fear goaded their primitive instincts. The lizards who did not enter the tunnel were spooked by growls and roars. Their superstitions realized, the rest fled while Grune's shouts were drowned by the pounding of lizard feet.

"Get back here," he cried. Panthro knew Grune enough and recognized irrational fear had been embedded within his orders. Grune always had been a little superstitious himself.  
A smile crept on Panthro's face. With lizards shouting "ghosts", what better time than to show himself when he was presumed dead?

"Hey Grune," Panthro said.

Grune whirled around, spooked. The color of his lips drained, the only sure way to tell if a cat was pale.

"Panthro! You're…"

To Panthro's surprise, there was little he wanted to say. His blood boiled and there was only one thing left to do. He jumped upon Grune. Grune gasped as he still doubted his own eyes. He resisted Panthro's falling fists with the might of someone truly afraid.

"You betrayed me Grune! You betrayed your brothers," Panthro cried.

"You're not a ghost," Grune spat and shoved Panthro from him a second time. "But you almost had me there, old friend."

"How dare you call me friend," Panthro said and drew his weapons. "You relinquished that right when you rose arms against me."

"Settle down and I'll give you a second chance to join me!"

Panthro swore and desired Grune's death more than anything. He could mourn the loss later, if he felt the urge to, which he supposed unlikely.

In a terrain like a mine, Panthro knew there were plenty of opportunities to kill Grune. It took a glance at his surroundings to know just how to do it. He bombarded Grune with the crack of his nunchucks and drove him backward as Grune struggled to avoid each strike.

Back in the day during a campaign, Grune had laughed at Panthro's weapon of choice. He laughed until Panthro had hit him with one. Truth be told, it was an accident while they fought lizards in close quarters but Panthro always told Grune it was on purpose. The timing was too good. His nunchuck had broken Grune's arm and he was unable to fight for the rest of the dry season. Sent home to watch infant princes and quadruped nursemaids.  
Grune caught on sooner than Panthro had hoped. He looked over his shoulder and saw a sudden drop. His face twisted and dodged to the side.

"That's a little nasty for your tastes, don't you think Panthro?"

"I owe you one," Panthro said and threw himself into Grune. It could have ended badly: the weight he had placed into the attack could easily have taken him off the ledge. But his foot hit it's mark and Grune flew backward and stumbled over the ledge.

He made a cry and his voice descend. Panthro hurried to the ledge to catch a last glimpse of him.

Grune vanished into the black, only to reappear. He hung from a machine that rose from the depths like an arrow. When the tall machine landed and spun wildly around the mine, Panthro shielded himself from falling debris.

"Kill them all, Driller," Grune called and made for the tunnel that they had emerged. Between falling debris and the robot, Panthro saw the royals and Cheetara draw their weapons. They thought they were going to take on Grune.

It was not expected that he would charge right through them and startled by his trajectory, the three split and stumbled aside.

"Maybe some other time, Thundercats," Grune called.

"Stop him," Panthro called but was interrupted by the Driller's first attempt at him. He deflected with the wave of his nunchuck but the power of the machine threw him on his back.

"No," Lion-o commanded, "we help Panthro."

"I don't need your damn help," Panthro called. "I told you not to get in my way!"

"And I said we stay," Lion-o said as they came upon the Driller with intent to deflect its next killing blow.

Panthro would not be up in time to save himself from the Driller's strike. It came faster than he could hope to dodge.

Lion-o was there before it landed. Red light showered him and the chambers. Panthro blocked his eyes as the light stung them and in his peripheral, Cheetara and Tygra had done the same.

The Driller whirled and whined. The machine squealed as it struggled to complete its master's wishes. Lion-o staggered, his body sunk under the force and Panthro doubted Lion-o conviction.

But before Panthro could conclude a nineteen year old boy was likely petty enough for revenge and step aside as a result of Panthro's disobedience, Lion-o roared. He threw his weight forward. The Driller spun backwards. Lion-o leapt upon it and slashed it with the electric edge of the Sword.

Panthro watched as the Driller flickered and split, its pieces rotated to a stop and fell back into the blackness.

"You…" Panthro began as he got to his feet.

He was interrupted by a tremor. Followed by another.

"The Driller weakened the mine," Tygra cried and goaded them all back into the tunnel.

They raced for the exit and dodged falling rocks where they could and bore impacts where they could not. Panthro watched as the three saved one another from falling debris, pushing one, calling to another to look out.

They were watching each other's back and even while they ran for their lives, Panthro felt happy in seeing it. That was what brothers and sisters in arms did for one another. There was no petty drama when a job needed to be done. Just pure brotherhood. And how Panthro wanted that again.

And maybe he could have it. Maybe he could find it in himself to respect them. Maybe.  
They did not stop until they had reached the safety of the jungle where they could catch their breath.

"Anybody injured," Panthro asked between puffs of air.

He was replied little aside from bobbing heads.

"Look," he urged. "You say no now, but they have a way of turning visible when you least expect."

They obeyed and Panthro was tempted to perceive them as children again. Except the event in the mines blocked him from succeeding.

He saw gouges and bruises. Lion-o's lips and eyelids were pale and Panthro knew he carried at least a bump on the head.

"Wow, you know," Lion-o said, " I don't feel so good." Cheetara and Tygra looked at him and searched their own person for the same sentiment. When they were clear of sympathy, they turned to concern and Cheetara touched Lion-o's shoulder.

"He's burning."

Panthro frowned.

"Never takes long. He's got Thundranium poisoning. Must be from the Driller."

They had their own way of showing fear. Tygra stared hard at his brother as if his gaze alone would keep him alive. Cheetara smiled and promised Lion-o he would be fine without believing it herself. Lion-o laughed and tried to shrug off the ailment. Panthro sighed.

"Nothing a hot bath, water, and rest won't help. If you listen to me," and he paused for emphasis, "you'll feel better in the morning."

"But you said Thundranium is poisonous," Lion-o said. In desperate attempts to hide his fear, he spoke with a growl cut on the edge of his words. Panthro realized he used it to assert himself but it was something children did. He shook his head.

"A little dust from the Driller is enough to make you sick but not enough to kill you. Let's get back."

Lion-o passed out mid-way through the jungle. Panthro would have carried Lion-o but Tygra insisted and shouldered the weight of his brother with more ease than Panthro supposed.

Upon the return to the camp, the children lay asleep and only Snarf greeted them with whines and moans that implied his happiness to see them. But when the creature saw Lion-o out cold, he cradled Lion-o's feverish cheeks and panicked over his person. When that ritual was over, he bolted into the jungle and only his panicked cries could be heard.

"Should I…go help maybe?" Cheetara asked and walked to the jungle edge, uncertain if an emotional Snarf was fully capable of tending to Lion-o's needs.

"You can trust Snarf," Tygra said. "He may be annoying but Lion-o never had a more effective nursemaid." He paused then added: "You might need to help him with some heavy lifting."

Cheetara smiled. As a cleric, she had little opportunity to familiarize herself with Snarf. Panthro found it strange too but did recall seeing the creature race wildly through the palace halls with a particularly panicked look on his face.

Cheetara vanished into the jungle and Lion-o lay inside the tank, his legs forced to dangle over the sides. Tygra admired his handiwork of making Lion-o comfortable and awkward at the same time before looking back at Panthro. His eyes lingered.

Tygra had always been a sharp child and his thoughts were at times surprising. King Claudus used to compare him to a furnace. Panthro never understood the alliteration until that very moment.

"By Jaga," Panthro said as he reached into a pouch Cheetara had left beside the tank, "what?"

Tygra eyed the Thundrillium that Panthro produced from the pouch.

"Can we trust you?"  
Panthro was surprised. He stay knelt beside the tank with pink shards of fuel resting in his massive hands. Tygra took the invitation to elaborate.

"Ten years changed Grune. How about you Panthro? Are you as loyal as you once were or did Mumm-Ra buy you too?"

Panthro took a breath to reply but Tygra interrupted.

"I don't trust you."

Panthro stood. It was unexpected but in more ways than one, he was relieved to hear Tygra's caution. Panthro smiled and saw it disarmed him.

"Well…" Panthro began as he poured the shards into the hungry vehicle, "let me tell you…" he paused again and forced Tygra to linger there until he was finished with his task. "I was wondering the same thing about you."

He put a hand on Tygra's shoulder and let himself smile again. Panthro had not smiled in a long time and it felt good to stretch his lips. A symptom for those who were frequently alone.

He looked into Tygra's face to see what impact his confession had made. He saw shallow anger and a deep reservoir of guilt. It was not his intention to wound Tygra and added:  
"But I'm starting to think I was disrespectful to your brother and to you, Prince Tygra. I can see you care for your brother. And you are right to be suspicious of self-proclaimed servants. Let me prove myself as you guys have."

Tygra looked at Lion-o and folded his arms.

"I had a few words for Grune too." He paused before adding, "whatever they might have been."

Panthro's smile waned but remnants jerked at the corner of his lips.

"What is there to say?"

Tygra shrugged. "When I was a cub, I wanted to be like Grune." He shot an anxious glance at Panthro and snorted. "Or I could just look at the facts."

"You aren't like Grune," Panthro said. But he was not so sure. Maybe Tygra was. There was much to compare, even without Grune's manipulation. Tygra's ambition. His determination. And the way he thought. But Panthro had to stand by his lie. There was danger in doubts about self-identity.

Panthro knew Tygra was, in some ways, the weakest link in their party by the fact alone that Tygra's mind had been fed fruit from a poisonous vine. It was alright if Tygra shot suspicious glances back. It was the best way to keep him in line and his eyes on Panthro, not on Grune.


	2. Furnace was Thy Brain

*I have a proofreader, but even between the two of us we tend to miss some things. If you run into any let me know.

Furnace was Thy Brain

Tygra opened a bag of rations but it flopped in his hands. He could tell it was empty. He reached for the next and his eyes bulged at its deflated appearance. The one behind it had been bunched into a ball and he immediately ignored it in favor of another. He plunged his hand within it to feel around just in case but felt crumbs. Empty bags lay at his feet and there was little doubt that the next would be different. They had all been full yesterday morning.

"I think someone got hungry last night," he hissed between his teeth and reached for the last bag. Some weight resisted as he took it into his hand. He plucked a bread piece from the bag and he pictured Wiley Kit and Kat cleaning them out in giddy euphoria.

He sighed and placed the rare portion back in the in. He swallowed his anger, unwilling to blame the children blindly. Their scent covered the empty bags but Tygra did not wish to embarrass them. There would be enough of that once Lion-o found out. And when Lion-o did not eat, he became insufferable.

"Just like a baby," Tygra snickered.

Even if Lion-o's mood had not been linked intimately with his stomach, Tygra thought his brother was hard on the kittens. After all, they were just children. If they were adults it would have been another matter. They would have been reprimanded with his whip.

A haze settled over the valley where they had journeyed the night before and a dusty smoke continued to wriggle out of Cloud Peak. The sun had yet to rise as he emptied a water skin and entered the jungle.

He pondered their ration situation as he moved silently through the brush and arrived at a river. He filled the skin and turned the children around in his thoughts but no matter how he looked at it, he was not angry with them. He was surprised at himself for being so lenient and Lion-o so harsh. Not something expected from Lion-o The Liberator or Tygra the Tyrant.

The rabble had loved Lion-o and maybe there had been some truth in their perception of him. Lion-o was a humanitarian. He loved his people, especially the ones that went unloved. Tygra never understood why his brother spent time on people so useless but he had to admit it was a nice gesture, however misplaced. But rabble did not know what was good for them. Lion-o may have looked the part of hero but it was because he could afford to be naïve and waste time.

"Not anymore," he sighed as he screwed on the cap of the water skin. Tygra was a little sorry. It had been innocence lost.

He looked up into the trees as morning light gained. Birds already cried wildly in the trees, and colorful streaks darted from branch to branch. He liked it there in the jungle. It felt right. Nothing he would admit, but it made him feel at home.

Tygra threw the water skin over his shoulder and sauntered down river. He watched the water move over rocks and dead branches. He saw vines that draped off of trees and made a long journey into the waters. And along them were creatures that scaled the vines to drink without leaving the safety of the trees.

For a moment, he forgot Thundera. He forgot the palace. He forget the court, the politics and the wreckage Thundera had become. The jungle was a palace in its own right.

Tygra snorted.

"Fitting for a tyrant I suppose," he mused with a smirk.

The jungle receded as his thoughts took over him. They grew knotted around events he could not change, new found perceptions that could not be applied. Evidence of betrayal that he had been too gullible to see. His eyes turned to his feet as the weight of memories bogged him down.

People he missed passed through his mind and each one came with regret. His mother, his father. Even Jaga. But at the center of this vortex was Lion-o and Grune. They choked his sense of right and wrong until new categories emerged to sort the noise. Action and inaction. Power and weakness. And they fit well with their incorporated person.

Tygra did not like it when he got to that point. Morals no longer made sense, lessons learned were unlearned. And it always darkened him.

A noise disrupted him and at first, he thought it was just a memory that could easily be dismissed. He blinked it back and thoughts attempted to resume but the shuffling continued and he realized it was outside his control.

Of course the other side effect of thinking all the time meant Tygra was not alert. He saw Panthro knee deep in the river with his hands hung over the current as he studied the spot under him.

Tygra came closer and made a point to not sneak up on a hardened solder. It would have been funny to see Panthro dance around in alarm but Tygra supposed that would not be the case. Tempting as it was.

"What are you doing," he asked.

Panthro jerked his head up and reached for his weapon. Tygra threw his hands up and grimaced at the speed Panthro armed himself and hoped he would recognize a comrade in time.

"By the eye of my ancestor, damn it Tygra! You startled me!"

Tygra blew a long sigh and relaxed his tense muscles.

"Wasn't my intention, general."

Panthro shot him grumpy looks and grumbled as he set his attention back to the water.

"Fishin'," he said.

"Like that?"

"All the pretty fishermen use polls but the best way is the way of us wild cats."

Tygra grunted at Panthro's self-entitlement.

"Shut-up and watch," Panthro said.

Tygra folded his arms and leaned against a tree while Panthro stared hard into the water.

"Well this is fun," Tygra said.

Panthro's hand darted in and just as quickly, produced a medium sized and wriggling fish. Tygra blinked at the demonstration and pushed himself off the tree. Without doubt, he looked as mystified as a cub.

"Bet I can do it better," Tygra said as he hung the water skin on a low dead branch.

"Love to see that. Based on our rations situation, I'd say we have a lot of work to do."

"Know who did it," Tygra asked as he reached the edge of the water.

"Doesn't take a court wizard to figure it out. But bitching is poor in nutrition. Fish will feed us better."

"You're the only one bitching, General," Tygra said and grinned.

"Got to get your feet wet first, your highness," Panthro said and shot a mocking smirk back.

The cool water felt good as the heat of the day had already become uncomfortable. Tygra watched the lumps of water roll over rocks as he moved deeper into the river. When something swam around his ankles his hair stood on end.

"Now stand low. No, not a fighting stance, like this. Now don't move. Be as still as you can otherwise the fish will suspect you."  
Tygra eyed Panthro. Was there a hint of betrayal in Panthro's description or was his brain mining for content that was not there?

Panthro grinned at such a sever look and continued his instructions.

"Then, when you think the time is right, grab it," and he thrust his hand in and produced another fish.

Panthro moved to the shores and left Tygra to stand awkward in the water. Panthro tossed the two fish in a large bucket and reached the water skin hanging in the tree. Tygra wondered if he had been conned into doing all the work.

"Better come back," Tygra said, "or you'll miss a lesson from a natural genius."

"Oh yes," Panthro grunted between sips of water, "a master fishermen is about to blossom."

As Tygra suspected, catching the fish had not been difficult but the moment he pulled it from the water it slipped between his fists. He struggled to keep it in his hands as each attempt only shot the fish higher into the air and farther down river. It got away from him and landed back in with a splash. Half the time Panthro laughed and swung the water skin around his finger.

"Pure talent!"

Tygra's confused expression earned further laughter.

"You should see the look on your face."

Tygra's mouth twitched which only compounded Panthro's amusement.

"Use your claws. Less power, more precision."

"I can deal in that," Tygra grinned.

"I sure hope so, fishing master." Panthro feigned his admiration with wide eyes and open arms as he sauntered back into the river. "For a moment I thought you were going to cry."

Panthro settled himself nearby and let his laughter die back into a grumpy frown.

"If we can find a town soon, we can salt the fish." He paused then added: "best kind of fish if you're asking. Speaking of good food have you ever had turtle?"

"I thought fishing was a quiet game, Panthro."

"See, you're entity wrong. It's not a game, we're providing. And second, the only thing missing are drinks but I suppose to have one this early in the day is bad taste. If you see a turtle, catch it."

"A drinker, are we," Tygra said with a crooked grin.

"Don't judge," Panthro said as he jabbed a finger in Tygra's direction. His mouth frowned but his eyes smiled. "I heard you had a little r &amp; r assistance too," and he gestured the sucking and puffing of a pipe. It only made Tygra grin wider.

Their voices rose as they joked and tried to talk over each other. Panthro had a way of shooting jokes just above the waist line and it took most of Tygra's thinking capacity to keep him equally on his toes. No doubt Panthro had taken on a respectful stance but just barely. Yet, despite the words he used, there seemed little threat in them and no reason for things to become sour. On the contrary. Tygra used remarks that would have stung Lion-o but only caused for Panthro to laugh and shove him until he was submerged in the river. When Tygra became sopping wet it was a good way to tell Panthro did not have a quick riposte.

It was only a matter of time before their obnoxious laughter drew Wiley Kit and Kat to the river. The children's mouths parted and gaped at the men with curious switching tails that cranked their thinking powers to maximum. At which point the men had resulted to base name calling.

"Drunkard."

"Hop head."

"Scar face."

"Dandy."

"Aren't you guys too old to be playing in the water," Wiley Kat asked with a look of disapproval.

"You guys look ridiculous," Wiley Kit laughed.

"We're trying to resupply our rations," Panthro said as he straightened himself out. "Wouldn't know anything about it would ya?"

The children froze and their eyes stared hard back at him. They turned their heads just enough to see one another and tried to reach an agreement through prolonged eye contact.

"We were starving," Wiley Kit said quickly.

"Yeah, we're used to starving and were tired of," Wiley Kat added.

"An' cus' we wanted to learn how to fish,"

"Pa was too busy to teach us to fish,"

"If we knew how, we would have never lived in the slums,"

"So our plan worked."

"It was Snarf's fault."

Wiley Kit's eyes glinted with schooled tears and rubbed her arm with equal attempt to generate charity. Wiley Kat bowed and apologized with great humility. Panthro whispered to Tygra:  
"Not bad."

"Did we mention Snarf started it," Wiley Kit said with a quaking voice.

"He maneuvered us down the life of crime," Wiley Kat said with grand repentance.

"That's a little over the top, don't you guys think? Good acting though. I was almost convinced you had no control over yourselves," Panthro said. "You do it again though we're leaving you at the next town."

"But Snarf," Wiley Kat cried.

"Don't care."

"We're sorry," they mewled.

"Whatever. Help with restocking the rations and it will be forgiven," Panthro said.

"When Lion-o doesn't eat, he gets mean as hell. If you want to bear the rest of the day with your skins, best leave that reaming ration for him," Tygra said.

"If that's true, we should be feeding him more," Wiley Kat said and shook his head.

Wiley Kit and Kat entered the water with great reluctance. With each cautious step, they shook the water form their feet only to be forced to dip them back in.

"The current is too strong," Wiley Kit whined. Wiley Kat started to simulate precarious balance but Panthro ignored their theatrics. Tygra watched as they gave up on Panthro and set their eyes to target his sympathies.

"Please Prince Tygra! We don't know how to swim."

Before he could say anything, Panthro threw the flat of his hand into his chest.

"Don't fall for it," he whispered.

Resolved, Tygra lifted his chin and said: "Thought you guys could pull your own weight."  
The twins regained their balance and snapped their fingers.

"Not even Tygra fell for it," Wiley Kit said.

"Why the surprise, sis, remember what he was called in Thundera?"

Tygra felt Panthro's eyes.

"You're Tygra the Tyrant," Wiley Kit cried and shot a finger at him in wild fear. Or amusement. Tygra could not tell. "I never put the two together."

"If he's a tyrant, he certainly isn't a fishing one," Panthro cried, "rations people! Focus," And he shook his fist over the twins head. Their tails fluffed and threw their hands into the water to rummaged blindly for a catch.

"At this rate, I'll be teaching all day," Panthro grumbled.

As he set to teach the children how to fish with similar if not more elaborate instructions, Tygra moved down river. The children were still interested in conning their way out of work and thrashed their hands around in the water in attempts to exhaust Panthro's patience. Tygra would never catch a fish that way, and he was certain it was a good enough excuse to ponder if he still wanted that old nickname of his.

He settled in place and caught a fish before his thoughts could begin. He looked around for a bucket but realized it had been left up river. The gaping creature stopped wriggling in his hands just long enough for him to look at its flapping gills and decide to put it back in the water.

"What was that," Panthro asked as he appeared with an empty bucket.

"Too small," Tygra lied.

"Guess our perception of inadequacy are different," Panthro joked. One Tygra had no intention of commenting on.

"Anyway," Panthro continued, "Those kids are well equipped with fishing instructions. Saw your brother at camp. Man is he pissed."

"Of course he is," Tygra smirked.

Panthro shrugged.

"Must have picked up that no-nonsense attitude from King Claudus. He didn't cut you guys breaks either." Panthro paused before he added: "I'm surprised you didn't hear him yelling."

Tygra gazed dully at the direction of camp.

"Looks like the King never could cure you of all that day dreaming," Panthro said.

"Day dreaming is for poets and minstrels and I'm not either of those," Tygra said and curled his lip.

"Sounds like something Claudus would've said," Panthro sighed as he tossed the bucket on the bank and entered the water, "day dreaming or not, ever think you do it too much?"

Tygra shot a leering grin. It was hard, cruel and reserved for those he wished to intimidate. Effective enough to have surprised Jaga once. Tygra supposed with it, Panthro would leave the daydreaming business alone.

Panthro studied it and shrugged.

"Well," he asked.

Tygra turned his nose up. Effective as it was, sometimes his mad grin failed. Lion-o had come to call it Tygra's _ass-face. _He had used it so often on his brother than Lion-o rarely reacted to it.

"Surely you would not slight a man who meditates on action."

"Spend too much time alone and you go nuts but too much time in your head and…well…"

"What," Tygra said as his shoulders grew ridged. He suspected the direction of the conversation.

"Some might call it plotting." Panthro said. A pause followed. They faced each other. The fun upriver had been forgotten.

"Be clear, general."

"I'm saying you should take control of your thoughts before they take control of you. I don't know much about this tyrant business but I bet it was, to some degree, deserved."

Wiley Kat squealed and Wilely Kit exclaimed that he had caught a fish. Lion-o grumpily replied from camp that they best catch a hundred more. The current pressed around Tygra and Panthro's legs but all was for nothing as the men showered the other with mistrustful looks.

Tygra moved. His hand reached slowly around at his hip. Panthro stared back into his face but already his good eye lit with knowing. Once Tygra's hand hovered over his whip Panthro whispered:

"Don't do it."

"Disrespect deserves reprimand."

"I'm not your enemy."

"Nor am I."

"Prove it."

Tygra's finger traced along the whip. Its carvings well known to him. It was the executioner's whip that he had taken and refused to return. It had given him the means to redirect disrespect in the palace. Nobles silenced at the sight of it and servants quaked. With that whip in his possession, no one dared disrespect Prince Tygra.

Panthro mistook Tygra's pause for hesitation and raised his hand to redirect the threat. Panthro coaxed Tygra's hand away from the whip's handle by the slow and gentle pull of his own. Tygra watched, equally ridged as before. After the whip was not within immediate reach, Panthro stepped back and bowed.

As Panthro turned his back, temptation ordered Tygra to lash him but had been overpowered by the ghost sensation of Panthro's touch. It remained after Panthro had disappeared up river. A sensation of which disturbed Tygra.

He signed and clapped a hand to his forehead. He attempted to knock darker thoughts from his mind. As he stood firm in his place against the current, he became swept away by what he had nearly done. Desperately, he denied any comparison between Tygra the Tyrant and Grune the Destroyer.


	3. Gate Keeper

Gate Keeper

Cheerara sat beside Tygra as Lion-o pressed his face against the Sword of Omens. He grumbled openly at the fickleness of the enchanted object.

"There's probably a little man inside it," he continued to grumbled, "who hates me more than you do," and he pointed at Tygra. An accusation which earned him a devious smile and an earnest drumming of his chest.

"Why the hurt, I love you bro."

"Right," Lion-o mumbled.

He sighed and continued to instruct the artifact to give him Sight Beyond Sight.

"Are you telling me we will only find the book if his sword gives him directions," Panthro said.

"It's as hopeless as it sounds," Tygra confirmed.

"He just needs to believe in himself," Cheetara said. "It might help if you believed in him too." She watched as her words were absorbed without restraint.

She wished to give Lion-o instructions as she saw him struggle with the enchanted object. If Lion-o had been trained as a cleric, he would have been more natural with the Sword of Omens. She was not sure how to explain its use to someone who had yet to experience peace with themselves.

Cheetara lamented Lion-o's psychological obstacles. She could see a seed of prophetic visions that was not in need of any relic and Lion-o was gifted magically but that seed had never been nourished. Jaga encouraged Lion-o to trust his intuition but even for Jaga it was too vague of instructions for Lion-o to interpret. Instead, Lion-o battled against "useless" impulses and was shamed for acting rashly. But was it her place to point out that the late Claudus had unwittingly suppressed Lion-o's potential?

Lion-o grew quiet as he gazed through the ocular settings in the sword's crossguard. His three subjects watched with breath abated and hoped he had succeeded in seeing what he needed to.

"This is dumb," Lion-o said abruptly. He shot accusative glares at Panthro and Tygra who had sighed grandly. He threw the sword over his shoulder and disappeared into the jungle for some privacy as though to spire them. It was a wise decision, Cheetara supposed, and a good opportunity to try and instruct him without the pressures of Panthro and Tygra.

Panthro's shoulder cracked as he stretched and Cheetara slid off the tank to go after Lion-o.

"Why here Cheetara," Panthro began before she could successfully slip away. "You've had us drive for days. The Thunder Tank isn't made for jungle, you know."

"Thought you said this hunk of junk could go anywhere," Tygra said as he bounced his hand off the vehicle. Cheetara watched Panthro form the deepest frown yet.

"She _can._ But there's no _good _reason to be hard on her."

"I guess locating the Book of Omens isn't a good reason," Tygra smirked.

Panthro grit his teeth and made sounds of irritation. Tygra had yet to loosen his smile or the mock in his assessments. It was hard to tell if they were fast friends or enemies but Cheetara knew from what she saw at the river, Tygra's banter was likely a form of apology. Though, she would not pretend to understand how it could be interpreted that way. It certainly was not a behavior she observed by those well meditated or disciplined in the mind.

At least it would produce some humorous entertainment later on and with that, she turned her back to them to go after Lion-o. Maybe even slip away.

"Where are you going," Panthro called, "I need someone to be on my side here."

"I'm sure you're well equipped in handling verbal banter, General Panthro. You boys have fun!"

She smirked as she could easily imagine them crossing perplexed looks.

When she found Lion-o, Snarf had gazed up at him with woeful eyes and whined. Lion-o dutifully continued his regime of ordering the sword and waiting for it to obey. Neither noticed her.

"This is never going to work," Lion-o sighed. "What am I doing wrong?"

"Sometimes we miss what's right in front of us," Cheetara said.

"All I see is jungle," Lion-o said and tossed his hand at a vine cluster ahead of him.

"The sword is a mysterious item. If it can be call that," Cheetara said. "If you think about it, there is some valid point in your speculation of its sentience."

Lion-o laughed. "You think it's alive?"

"It's true, the Sword of Omens does not have a pulse but the eye itself if very mysterious. When you gaze into it, its gazing directly back at you."

Lion-o pulled the weapon away from his face and studied it. She tried to imagine how Jaga would guide Lion-o but decided he would do it too slow for her tastes.

Cheetara placed a hand on his shoulder and pointed at the red stone resting in the heart of the sword's guard.

"It looks directly into your third eye which is located here," and she touched his brow. "I suspect it uses your focus as a medium to project images. It's only as capable as you permit it to be."

Lion-o paused as he searched his thoughts. She hoped she had reached him and watched his gears turn. And she hoped she had not made him feel even less capable.

"Self-doubt will defeat you," she added. "If you think of the sword's eye as your own eye, self-doubt is like the blackest darkness. Therefore it cannot make assessments in what you need to see." She paused and added, "does that make sense?"

"I think so. You're saying I have to trust what I imagine I see, even if the sword does not project it before my eyes."

Cheetara's mouth opened. It was not what she said, it was steps ahead of what she had told him. Her eyes lit like fire.

"Lion-o, you are exactly right. It may be hard to tell the difference between your own fantasies from the truth the sword is inviting you to project. Its important to entertain all thoughts that come. "

"So what now?"

Cheetara stood before him and pointed at the center of his forehead.

"I'm going to trace a circle at your third eye. It will leave a lingering pressure and you can channel your focus through the eye."

Lion-o froze as she traced the circle. His hands loosened around the grip of the sword. He stared ahead at her.

"Now try," she said.

He raised the sword slowly. He gazed through the cutaways and stared at her.

"Sword of Omens," he began just over a whisper. "Give me Sight Beyond Sight."

She watched as his eyes locked forward and suspected his success.

He gasped and lowered the sword quickly. "It's behind you."

"What," she asked without reservation.

"The entrance…it's right behind you."

Cheetara looked over her shoulder and pointed at the vines.

"Let's see," she said with a bewildered look.

She reached out for the vines when from behind she heard Wilely Kat's voice.

"What'chya doin'?"

As the children teased Lion-o, Cheetara swept back the cover and revealed the mark of a feral lion. The odds of stumbling upon the secret was painfully unlikely. Yet, somehow, Lion-o had seen it without knowing it. And she smiled.

"He was destined for this role," she whispered to herself.

In her excitement, she began to tear down the vines. More of the lion emblem appeared and snarled back at them.

"Kit, Kat, go get Panthro and Tygra," Lion-o said quickly. "Tell them we found what we needed."

"Ohh mysterious," Wiley Kit said.

"Go," Lion-o commanded.

By the time the children returned, Lion-o and Cheetara were nearly finished with clearing away the vines. After their efforts, they realized a small tunnel lay underneath the lion emblem and Lion-o made a displeased face.

The jungle behind them filled with dispute over the Thunder Tank. Neither Panthro nor Tygra seemed as excited or involved as the children were who ushered them closer to the excavated site.

"All I'm saying is the tank could be better," Tygra said. "She's loud, she sputters and pieces keep falling off ever other mile."

"That tank doesn't need you fixing anything! You're ancestors help you if you touch her. Prince or not," Panthro rumbled.

"Glad to hear they're working it out," Cheetara smirked. It earned her a confused look from Lion-o.

"She's a hunk of junk," Tygra insisted.

"She's perfectly acceptable!"

"Nice to know someone else is taking the brunt of his bullshit for a change," Lion-o sighed.

As they arrived upon the sight, Panthro and Tygra's attention turned to the emblem and the small passage underneath it.

"Are you sure this is it," Tygra asked.

"After I cut out the noise," Lion-o said pointedly, "I was very successful in achieving Sight Beyond Sight."

"Well, that's surprising," Tygra snorted.

"No thanks to you," Lion-o said.

"Hey, I'm sure you'll need a strong man and a geezer up ahead," Tygra promised. A comment that earned him a glare and the shake of Panthro's head.

Lion-o looked around at his companions. When Snarf was not accounted for, he looked up into a tree where the creature was spotted pulling fruit into its paws.

"Common Snarf," Lion-o called.

The creature stuffed fruit into his mouth and jumped down bringing more fruit with him. Wiley Kit and Kat scrambled to pick up the fruit and shove them into their pockets.

"You guys don't even know if that fruit is safe to eat," Panthro cried and swatted the fruit from their hands.

"It's easy," Wiley Kit said patiently, "you take a small bite and if it burns your tongue you don't eat it."

They resumed stuffing their pockets until Lino-o gave a stern command for them to follow. Panthro sighed. Cheetara patted his large shoulder.

One by one they squeezed into the tunnel. Spiders, serpents and the like wriggled away from their path. Everyone knew when Panthro spotted a spider as each time he sucked in a deep breath and pounded his fist. From what Cheetara could tell one was particularly squishy and earned a chorus of "ewwws" from the kittens.

They crawled on their bellies for a time. All they could hear was their shuffling and exasperated sighs. No end was in sight for a while.

When they finally climbed out they entered a large clearing where the river broke and plummeted into a sheer ravine. Clouds had come in during their time in the crawlspace and threatened with rolling thunder. Everything about the place had been tied together by the ominous tower which lay imbedded in massive rock.

They found themselves speechless. To look upon it was daunting. The structure seemed to possess a hundred eyes that leered back at them. Invisible sentinels bid no guest welcome. The Lord of the Thundercats was no exception.

"No wonder Grune and I never found this place," Panthro said, "neither of us would go in a crawlspace like that."

"Perhaps Mumm-Ra would have not disrupted your quest had he known what you were looking for," Cheetara said. "I guess it's a good thing you two never did find the book."

"Took the right partners," Panthro smiled and flashed a thumbs up. Lion-o exchanged smiles with Cheetara. He was still riding on the confidence used to get them there before the tower.

"And I guess I ate my words back there," she said.

"Alright you guys," Wiley Kat called and the two children jumped out in front of them.

"Before you start by saying: you two stay here-it isn't safe," and Wiley Kit mocked their voices as best as she could but mimicked a perfect strut, "Kat and I are going in."

"What a good idea," Lion-o smiled, "you two _should_ stay here."

Wiley Kit and Kat bounced up and down as they concocted a contingency.

"Two word," Wiley Kat began with a commanding finger held up, "booby traps. Do you guys even know what this is," and he produced a shiny gray object. No bigger than a key. Lion-o took it and puzzled over it as Tygra equally pondered it's use from over his shoulder.

"It's called a lock pick," Wiley Kit said. "and I know we're the only ones who can use them. You're going to need us."

"Hate to admit it, your majesty, but the kids are right," Panthro said. "That place is probably locked real tight."

"And full of traps," Cheetara said. "This place was made by Jaga's predecessor. If they were anything like him, nothing is going to be as they seem. It's going to take a lot of thought."

"Hear that," Lion-o said as he returned Kat's lock pick, "no jumping onto any treasure hordes."

"How cliche," Wiley Kat said. "My sister and I may be thieves but we know a trap when we see one. Let's go, sis."

They followed the kittens across a long stretch of stone. The river hissed far below their feet and Cheetara was prepared for traps.

They came upon a door with gouges all around its surface. Faded drawings done in paint depicted people and other undecipherable symbols.

Cheetara ran her hand across it and pondered its story. The drawings had to of been relatively fresh as any rain would wash away ancient paint. Someone had found the tower before they had. Ancient trap or contemporary drawing, it was their first puzzle.

"It looks like a kid did this," Wiley Kit said. She pointed at the basic drawings and traced each one as she supplied interpretation. "Someone was in the jungle. They found the crawl space. They weren't strong enough to open the door so they tried to leave. They couldn't go back through the tunnel and…they got hungry."

"What's the bird mean," Lion-o asked as he touched a mark that had jagged wings, trailing tail feathers and a forked beak.

"Doesn't look like a bird to me," Wiley Kit said. "It looks like a monster."

Cheetara squinted at the figure. She saw a bird as Lion-o had but its shape was too ominous to ignore.

"That's not a beak," Panthro said carefully.

"Let's get this door open," Cheetara said.

"You heard her," Lion-o said. He approached the door and cracked his knuckles. Cheetara lifted her head again as thunder rumbled and a streak of lightning wriggled through the clouds.

Lion-o pressed all his might into the door. His body quaked as he groaned. Tygra came to assist but the door would not budge. Panthro and the kittens followed and a chorus of grunts surrounded the sealed door.

"Cheetara," Lion-o managed. "Help."

She lowered her eyes from her vigilance and joined their struggle.

"Open, open, open," the children chanted.

"If we're not enough to open this door," Lion-o moaned, "who's the book for?"

The door cracked. Enough to tempt them to push harder.

"Give it a little more," Panthro encouraged.

"It's like we need one more…" Tygra paused and Cheetara followed his line of sight. It ended at Snarf who had curled up on the warm stone path way to catch a quick nap. He cracked a green eye to check on their status.

"Common," Tygra urged with a strangely saccharine voice, "Snarf, Lion-o needs your help."

Snarf winked lazily, stood and smacked his lips. Tygra continued to encourage him every moment he could spare. However, Cheetara doubted Snarf's added might would be enough to push the door ajar.

Snarf looked at Tygra, winked again and spun in a circle. He curled his tail up to his nose and rested with his backside pointed at them.

"Why you…" Tygra growled.

"I told you, he doesn't like you," Lion-o said.

"What? Why?"

"Common Snarf," Lion-o called, "help us."

The creature's laziness melted. He sprung to his feet and padded to Lion-o and looked up at him. Snarf waited.

"What's it doing," Panthro groaned. "Does it want a treat? Ancestors help em' he's always eating."

"Right," Lion-o said. "Manners."

They all smiled as pleasant as possible despite their excessive straining and called:

"Pleeease?"

Snarf almost looked to smile and slipped through the crack in the door.

"No," Lion-o called. "Snarf don't go in!"

"I don't know how much longer we can hold this door open," Panthro confessed, "if it decides to take a nap, it'll be an eternal one."

The door spun open. It flung them to the ledge of the pathway and they struggled to keep themselves from plummeting to their deaths. As they scrambled away from the ledge, Snarf emerged from the door and yawned.


End file.
